Mooring device



A. G. KAUFFMAN July 28, 1964 MOORING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 14, 1962 N A mm M m A V K mm W E R D N A ATTORNEY July 28, 1964 A. G. KAUFFMAN 3,142,234

MOORING DEVICE Filed Dec. 14, 1962 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORI ANDREW e. KAUFFMAN I ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,142,284 MOORING DEVIQE Andrew G. Kaufiman, 212 Heather Road, Upper Darby, Pa. Filed Dec. 14, 1962, Ser. No. 244,673 13 Claims. (Cl. 114-230) This invention relates to the mooring of water craft to a dock or float and in particular to a self-locking and self-storing device for this purpose.

With the advent of greatly increased boating activities by the American public, problems or boat storage, boattheft prevention, boat safety, and boat preservation arise.

Present methods of storing and mooring of boats in marinas are relatively wasteful of space and hence mean a loss of income to the operator of the marina.

In addition, if conventional mooring lines and the like are used, the boat can easily come loose under abnormal atmospheric conditions such as are caused by hurricanes and gale winds. Moreover, ordinary lines do not stabilize the boat as much as desired when boarding them or when loading them with heavy gear with the result that the safety of passengers and property is endangered.

Conventional mooring lines and devices also are very easy to untie or sever and therefore theft of boats is relatively simple, Even where theft is not a problem, there are often cases in which the boat owner would nonetheless like to discourage friends from borrowing his boat.

There are some prior art mooring devices which include various springs or clips which rust or wear out relatively quickly or are otherwise quite complicated.

Those conventional mooring devices which do secure a boat fairly satisfactorily present hazards to pedestrians on the dock area when they are not in mooring use.

It is therefore among the objects of the present invention to provide:

(1) A novel craft-attachment device for securing the craft against theft.

(2) A novel mooring device for boats which can prevent complete submersion of a boat in the event it springs a leak.

(3) A novel mooring device for boats which allows closer storage of them in dock facilities and thereby can increase the economic return of the owner of those facilities.

(4) A novel mooring device which stabilizes the motion of the boat to such an extent when it is being boarded or loader that danger to boarding passengers and loaded equipment is minimized.

(5) A novel boat-mooring device which stabilizes the boat against abnormal water or atmospheric forces thereby helping to prevent damage to it.

(6) A novel and simple boat-mooring device which has few moving parts and is simple in operation and therefore is relatively maintenance-free.

(7) A novel boat-mooring device which is self-storing out of the way of possible harm to passers-by on the boat float or dock.

Still other objects of my present invention will occur to those skilled in the art upon perusal of the drawings, specifications and, claims herein.

In accordance with my invention I provide a boatmooring device consisting of a generally V-shaped assembly having a generally ring-shaped subassembly located at the juncture of the two legs of the V-shaped assembly. In its self-storing position, one of the ends of the first leg of the V is fixedly attached to a first mount on the boat dock or float and the second leg is substantially immovably positioned under it. In this position the ring is locked against a second mount on the dock.

In order tomoor the boat, the lock is removed and ice the second leg is dislodged from its storage position and its free end is moved toward the second mount. As it moves it causes a curved member in the ring subassembly to pass through a mooring ring on the boat and to enter a channel in the subassembly thereby securing the boat. The free end of the second leg is then inserted into the second mount to which it may then be padlocked. Thus, opening of the legs of the assembly simultaneously locks the ring assembly about the ring on the boat and positions the free end of the second leg for attachment to the second mount.

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of apparatus embodying my invention shown in partially and fully extended positions.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view of apparatus embodying my invention as connected to the bow of the boat and to a mooring dock.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of one form of my invention shown in its self-storing position.

FIGURE 4 is an elevation view of part of my novel apparatus shown in a position intermediate its selfstoring position and its mooring position.

FIGURE 5 is a partial enlarged section of the ring subassembly taken along line 5'-5 in FIG. 6.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along the section lines- 66 in FIGS. 3 and 5.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view of one of the mounts shown in FIG. 1 taken along the section line 66 thereof.

FIGURE 8 includes parts A-E and shows various ways in which my novel apparatus may be used for securing boats to docks and the like.

Mooring Position Referring to FIGURE 1 there is shown attached to a dock 10 apparatus indicated generally at the numeral 11 which embodies my invention. The device 11 is shown in its extended position and includes two legs 12 and 13, the terminal portion 13a of the leg being shown locked by a padlock 14 to a stationary mount 15 that is secured to the dock 10 by screws. The other leg 12 has a terminal portion 12a (FIG. 7) with a hole 121 drilled therein through which a pin 16 is passed. The ends of pin 16 are fixedly anchored betewen the upstanding portion 17 of a pivoting mount 18 that is screwed by screws 19,. for example, to the dock 10. The pin 16 permits the terminal portion 12a to pivot in a vertical plane. The portion 17 also includes a shaft portion 17a which passes through an axial aperture in mount 18 and has a threaded lower end around which a nut 27 may be screwed. A cotter pin 29 may be inserted into a transverse aperture in shaft 17a to prevent unscrewing of nut 27.

At the juncture of the arms 12 and 13 there is a ring subassembly 20 which includes a curved sector 13b that passes through an eyelet or bow eye 24 (FIG. 2), thereby preventing the craft from being unmoored. The bow eye 24 is, as shown in FIG. 2, a member having an opening 24a formed in its external portion and an inverted shaft 24b which passes through the front of the craft 30. A bolt 25 or similar fastening device is screwed on the internal end of the shaft 24b to prevent the eye from being dislodged.

Self-Storing Position FIG. 3 shows the device 11 in its self-storing, unmoored position. It will be seen that the ring subassembly 20 is so fashioned that when the legs 12 and 13 are brought close to one another in the position shown in that figure, the curved sector 13b is withdrawn and the arcuate cutout 200 permits the subassembly 20 to be slipped down over the upright sections 15a and 1511 (FIG. 6) of mount 15 to which leg 13 is padlocked when in the mooring position. It is in this self-storing position that the device is left when the craft is not moored to it. In this position, the padlock 14 which was used to lock the arm 13 to mount 15 when the device is in its mooring position, is passed through the aligned apertures 15c and 15d, thereby preventing the lifting of the legs 12 and 13. As will be seen later, leg 13 cannot move laterally (upwards as seen in FIG. 3) because its terminal portion 13a lies under the leg 12 and therefore it is stopped by the mount 18. On the other hand, as will be seen later in connection with FIG. 5, it cannot move laterally in the other direction (down in FIG. 3) because the inner end of its movable sector 13b is stopped by the inner end of another curved sector 12b of the arm 12. In the self-storing position, therefore, the device does not extend either outwards or inwards on the float to any extent and therefore cannot be a hazard to pedestrians. Since it is locked, no children or others may purposely or inadvertently move it from its self-stored position.

As seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the ring subassembly 20 consists of an upper annular member 20a and a lower annular member 20b held together by bolts 22 which are preferably screwed in threaded apertures therein from the under side to prevent removal thereof by a would-be thief or vandal. Each half 20a and 20b has formed in it corresponding channels 24a and 24b which are contiguous and have substantially semicircular cross-sections which together form a circular channel. In addition, there is a circular slot 26 formed by appropriately cutout sections of the upper and lower member 20a and 20b. This slot is provided to allow the sector 13b of leg 13 to move clockwise from its self-storing position to its mooring position. The end 26a of the slot cut-out of annulus 20b and the corresponding end of the cut-out in 20a act as a limit on the movement of the shaft part 13c of arm 13.

As stated previously, there is a sector 13b attached to a shaft portion 130 that is threaded and screwed into a threaded aperture 13d in a plug 13s that is welded or otherwise fixedly connected to a hollow portion 13 in the arm 13. The shaft 13c can rotate on its axis by virtue of its threaded engagement with the aperture 13d and this feature assists in arranging the device 11 in its mooring or self-storing position. The shaft portion 136 can also move laterally within the slot 26 when the subassembly 20 has been removed from the mount 15 and the end 13a of leg 13 is moved toward mount 15 for connection thereto in the mooring position. The sector 12b is similarly connected to a shaft portion 12c which is threaded and engages a threaded aperture 12d within a plug 12e that is welded in place in a hollow portion 12 of the leg 12.

Storing to Mooring Position The change of the device 11 from its self-storing position to the mooring position will now be described in some detail with particular reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7. The padlock 14 (FIG. 3) is first removed and the whole device 11 is lifted by pulling the legs 12 and 13 and/ or the subassembly 20 up until the subassembly 20 is clear of the stationary mount 15. The device 11 is then pivoted clock-wise (as seen in FIG. 3) on the pivoting mount 18 until the subassembly 20 is about on a line which is equidistant between the mounts 15 and 18 as shown in FIG. 1. During this pivoting motion it should be remembered that the terminal portion 13a remains under the leg 12 and against the mount 18. The next step is to raise the legs 12 and 13 until they are about at a 45 angle with respect to their self-storing position shown in phantom lines in FIG. 4. This permits the terminal 13a to he slipped down and away from the water side of the mount 18 and to be extended laterally as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1 toward the stationary mount 15. The leg 13 may be swivelled be- 4 cause of the threaded shaft 13c so that when the terminal portion 13a is above the space between portions 151! and b of mount 15, it can be adjusted to the proper vertical position before being moved downward into that space. The aperture 13g (FIG. 4) becomes aligned with the apertures 15c and 15d.

As the arm 13 has been moving toward the mount 15, it will be noticed that the movable sector 13b will move clockwise within the channel 34 formed by the channel halves 34a and 34b. Its outer free end will pass through the arcuate cut-out section of subassembly 20, through the bow-eye 24 and approach the outer end of the stationary sector 12b stopping when the portion 13a is between portions 15a and 15b. When the padlock is then placed through the apertures 15c, 13g and 15g (FIG. 1) the boat is secured to the dock 10. When it is later desired to release the boat, the padlock 14 is taken off and the process just described is reversed until the self-storing position of FIG. 3 is attained.

My device may be used with craft in a number of different ways, some of which are shown in FIG. 8. In part A, the device 11 is attached to an eyelet or other appropriate device at the stern of the craft and a cable 30 is passed through a ring or eye 31 at the bow of the boat, the ends of the cable being fastened to two pilings 32 and 34.

Part B of FIG. 8 shows a craft which is moored by the device 11 at its bow-eye, there being two cables 30 and 30" attached to ring 40 on the dock and to corresponding ring 42 at the stern of the craft.

Part C shows how the device 11 is attached to the dock and to the ring or eye of an outboard motor located below the engine portion proper to which water skis are often attached. As in part A, a cable 30 is attached to pilings 32 and 34.

Part D shows how the device 11 can be used by attach ing the subassembly to an eyelet attached to the side of the craft. The cables and 30" can be attached to rings on the bow and stern and to corresponding rings on the dock.

Part B shows still another form wherein the device 11 is attached to the bow-eye or similar device upon the craft. There is a cable 30 passed through a ring 42 through which another stationary cable 44 is passed and connected at each of its ends to pilings 32 and 34.

Of course, still other mooring arrangements than the ones shown are possible as these are merely meant to be illustrative.

In order to make the device even more tamper or theft-proof, metal plates with central holes therein could be placed on the mounts 15 and 18 over the upstanding portions thereof before the ends of the members 12 and 13 are attached thereto. This would make it virtually impossible for anyone to remove the screws 19 in an attempt to disengage the device 11.

As other modifications of my novel device which do not depart from the essence of my invention will occur to one skilled in the art on reading this application, I

desire my invention to be limited solely by the claims herein.

I claim:

1. device for securing a first body to a second body comprising:

(a) first means including a first rigid member having one end coupled to said second body,

(b) second means including a second rigid member which is movable and has one end which is free and may be moved into position for connection to said second body,

(c) means coupled to the other ends of said rigid members which is adapted to be securely connected to said first body substantially only when said free end of said second rigid member is moved a predetermined distance from said first rigid member.

2. The device according to claim 1 wherein said secnd means also includes facilities for locking said free end into connection with said second body.

3. A device-for securing a-mobile body to a stationary body comprising:

(a) a first rigid member having one end connected to said stationary body,

(b) a second rigid member having one end which is free, said second member being constructed so that said free end is movable toward and away from said one end of said first member,

(0) means on said stationary body to which said free end may be coupled when moved a predetermined distance away from said one end of said first member, and

(d) means coupled to the other ends of both of said members and being constructed and arranged to effectively form a substantially closed loop thereby to securely engage a predetermined portion of said moblie body substantially only in response to the movement of said free end said predetermined distance.

4. The device according to claim 3 wherein said (c) means includes provision for locking said free end thereto.

5. A device for securing a mobile body to a stationary body comprising:

(a) first means including a first mount fixed to said stationary body and a first rigid member having one end connected thereto,

(b) second means including a second mount fixed to said stationary body and a movable second rigid member having a free end which is adapted to be connected to said second mount when moved into alignment therewith, said second rigid member being movable toward and away from said first rigid member, and

(c) securing means connected to the other ends of said rigid members and having a portion thereof connected to said second rigid member which effectively forms a substantially closed loop about a designated portion of said mobile body in response to the movement of said free end into alignment with said second mount thereby securing said mobile body to said stationary body.

6. The device according to claim 5 wherein said second mount includes facilities for locking said free end to it in alignment therewith thereby effectively locking said mobile body to said stationary body.

7. A device for securing a mobile body to a stationary body comprising:

(a) first and second mounts adapted to be fixedly connected to said stationary body in spaced relationship to one another,

(b) a first rigid member having one end thereof pivotally connected to said first mount about an axis substantially parallel to said stationary body,

(0) a second rigid member having a free end adapted to be lockably secured to said second mount,

(d) a securing assembly connected to the other ends of said members, the other end of said first rigid member being fixedly connected to said securing member, the other end of said second rigid member being constructed and arranged to move in the plane of said securing member in response to movement of second member, said securing member having a peripheral recessed portion formed therein through which said other end of said second member passes when the free end thereof is moved a predetermined distance away from said first mount which approximates the distance between said first and second mounts, said other end of said second member and the other parts of said securing member cooperating to form an unopenable ring-like structure when the free end of said second member is locked to said second mount.

8. The deviceaccording to claim 7 wherein said first mount is constructed to permit said first rigid member also to move substantially parallel to the plane of said stationary body, and

wherein said recessed portion is constructed to fit over said second mount when said first and second rigid members are brought close to one another and are swung into position between said first and second mounts, and

wherein said second mount is provided with means for locking said rigid members into said position, said locking means also being capable of locking said free end of said second rigid member thereto when said members are not in said position.

9. The device according to claim 7 wherein said other ends of said first and second members are constructed to enable them to rotate about the longitudinal axes of the respective members to which they are connected.

10. A device for securing a craft to a mooring body comprising:

(a.) a first mounting member fastened to said mooring body, said first mounting member comprising a portion adapted to swivel within another portion of said member, said swiveling action being substantially horizontal and about a vertical axis,

(b) a first rigid member having one end mounted in said swiveling portion and being constructed and arranged to pivot about a horizontal axis substantially in a vertical plane,

(0) a second mounting member adapted to be fixed to said mooring body and having an upstanding portion thereof with a channel formed therein, said upstanding portion being provided with aligned apertures communicating with said channel and located substantially perpendicular thereto,

(d) a second rigid member which can be moved toward or away from said first rigid member and which has a free end thereof shaped to fit within said channel,

(e) a securing member to which the other ends of said two rigid members are connected, the other end of said first rigid member being fixedly connected thereto, the other end of said second rigid member including a curved portion constructed and arranged to move within the general plane of said securing member in response to the said movements of said second rigid member, said curved portion being constructed and arranged to pass through an aperture in a predetermined part of said craft when the free end of said second rigid member is aligned with said channel, said securing member also having a portion thereof which is formed to engage said upstanding portion of said second mounting member When said first and second rigid members are positioned to lie between said first and second mounting members.

11. A device according to claim 10 wherein said free end of said second rigid member is provided with an aperture that may be aligned with the apertures in said upstanding portion,

wherein said other ends of said rigid members are con structed with portions which are arranged for rotary movement substantially about axes respectively aligned with axes of major portions of said rigid members, and

wherein and free end may be substantially immobilized by said first rigid member when said portion of said securing member engages said upstanding portion.

12. The device according to claim 2 wherein said first and second rigid members and said (0) means are constructed to be movable to a substantially horizontal position, when said device is not being used to secure said first body to said second body, in which they are substantially immobilized.

13. The device according to claim 3 wherein said (a) 7 8 and (b) members and said (d) means are constructed to References Cited in the file of this patent be movable to a substantially horizontal position, when UNITED STATES PATENTS said device is not being used to secure said mobile body to said stationary body, in which they are substantially 2996033 Yordl 1961 demobilized by engagement of said (c) means by said 5 3019759 WOQdS 1962 (d) means 3,074,371 Kuhck Jan. 22, 1963 

1. A DEVICE FOR SECURING A FIRST BODY TO A SECOND BODY COMPRISING: (A) FIRST MEANS INCLUDING A FIRST RIGID MEMBER HAVING ONE END COUPLED TO SAID SECOND BODY, (B) SECOND MEANS INCLUDING A SECOND RIGID MEMBER WHICH IS MOVABLE AND HAS ONE END WHICH IS FREE AND MAY BE MOVED INTO POSITION FOR CONNECTION TO SAID SECOND BODY, (C) MEANS COUPLED TO THE OTHER ENDS OF SAID RIGID MEMBERS WHICH IS ADAPTED TO BE SECURELY CONNECTED TO SAID FIRST BODY SUBSTANTIALLY ONLY WHEN SAID FREE END OF SAID SECOND RIGID MEMBER IS MOVED A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE FROM SAID FIRST RIGID MEMBER. 